08-26-2011, 06:39 PM
boy does this guy suck!
![[Image: DadForeclosure.jpg]](http://a57.foxnews.com/static/managed/img/Scitech/Sept/396/223/DadForeclosure.jpg)
TwinCities.com
MINN.
Eleven-year-old Sebastian Cross woke up July 18 to find his dad gone.
Left behind were two notes.
In the first, his father, Steven Alexander Cross, said there were no jobs for architects in the current economy. It went on to say their Lakeville home was in foreclosure and they would be evicted the following week.
Cross instructed Sebastian in the note to take his PlayStation and go to a neighbor's house.
The second note asks the neighbors to take care of his son.
"If this paper is wet, it's because I am crying so bad," the father wrote to the boy. "You know your dad loves you more than anything."
Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Cross, 60, who was charged this month with a gross misdemeanor of child neglect, according to a Dakota County criminal complaint.
Sebastian is in the custody of Dakota County Child Protection, said County Attorney James Backstrom. He is living with a foster family but soon will be placed permanently with a relative.
"For a parent to abandon a child under these circumstances - it is both unusual and disturbing," Backstrom said.
Cross' last known whereabouts were in California, but officials have been unable to locate him.
On Thursday, his two-story home was vacant. Foreclosure signs on the front door said the house is under new ownership and told where to go to collect any items left behind. A bank bought the home Jan. 25 for $336,925, according to county records.
The incident has left the neighborhood stunned.
"Heartbreaking," said Traci Radtke, a neighbor. "It's a sad story."
Radtke, 47, lives next to John and Joanne Pahl, whose home Sebastian went to after his father left. Radtke said the boy stayed with the Pahls for about a month.
Joanne Pahl told Radtke she was about to leave for swimming lessons with her younger child when Sebastian came to her house with the letters.
"He started to cry," Radtke said.
Pahl took Sebastian into her house and called the boy's father but couldn't reach him. Pahl reportedly then called the police. She told officers the boy lived about three blocks away and rode his bike over with the letters, one unopened.
Messages left for the Pahl family were not returned Thursday.
Pahl told police that Cross didn't ask her family to take in his son. He also didn't mention plans to leave town, the complaint said.
Sebastian told police he last saw his father the night before he left. The boy didn't notice anything wrong, the charge said. Sebastian told a social worker he knew little about his family, and his father had told him his mother was dead.
But in the letter to Sebastian, his father said his mother was actually alive.
A petition for child protection names Katik Porter, who also uses the last name Splitstoesser, as Sebastian's mother. Her whereabouts are unknown.
According to Ramsey County Child Protection, her parental rights for three older children she had with another man were voluntarily terminated in 1999 or 2000, the petition stated. Sebastian said he last saw his mother when he was 2.
Attempts to reach Porter were unsuccessful.
Cross, a licensed architect, was awarded legal custody of Sebastian in 2001, the complaint said. The mother received visitation privileges, which she never used; her privileges were suspended in 2002.
Police tracked Cross' credit cards and bank accounts after he went missing but found no activity, the charge said. Authorities also analyzed his home computer, which found a possible reservation dated Aug. 1 for a three-night stay in the oceanside southern California city of Morro Bay.
A week after his disappearance, Joanne Pahl received a call from a woman who said she was an ex-girlfriend of Cross', the complaint said. Cross sent her an email from a library in Carmel, Calif., saying he left his son behind and was depressed and sleeping in the streets, the complaint said.
California police tried to locate Cross.
In the email Cross said, "'I probably only have a couple of days...No one I called would help me...I didn't know what to do. I am scared and hopelessly depressed.'"
Authorities have heard of no further contact from Cross.
"Where he is now I don't know," Backstrom said.
Homeowners dealing with a foreclosure are under stress, said Sara Swenson, assistant director of administration for the Dakota County Community Development Agency. The agency offers people free mortgage foreclosure counseling but also makes additional referrals if people need emotional support.
This year, there have been 1,067 foreclosure sales in Dakota County, Swenson said. Of that number, 149 were in Lakeville.
Besides traffic tickets and minor violations, Cross has no criminal record, Backstrom said. The recent charge against him carries up to a year in jail.
Maricella Miranda can be reached at 651-228-5421.
THE LETTER
From a letter Steven Cross, 60, of Lakeville left his 11-year-old son July 18:
"To my son Sebastian:
"If this paper is wet, it's because I am crying so bad. You know your dad loves you more than anything. This economy got (illegible) there are no jobs for architects so I have to go because the sheriff...will take the house July 27. There will be no more me....Some good news is your mother is still alive. Though I do not think it is for the best. Give these letters to (J.P.). Do not open them. I hope they get to give you a chance. There are many, many great years ahead for you. Not so for me."
Source: Dakota County criminal complaint filed Aug. 12
TwinCities.com
MINN.
Eleven-year-old Sebastian Cross woke up July 18 to find his dad gone.
Left behind were two notes.
In the first, his father, Steven Alexander Cross, said there were no jobs for architects in the current economy. It went on to say their Lakeville home was in foreclosure and they would be evicted the following week.
Cross instructed Sebastian in the note to take his PlayStation and go to a neighbor's house.
The second note asks the neighbors to take care of his son.
"If this paper is wet, it's because I am crying so bad," the father wrote to the boy. "You know your dad loves you more than anything."
Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Cross, 60, who was charged this month with a gross misdemeanor of child neglect, according to a Dakota County criminal complaint.
Sebastian is in the custody of Dakota County Child Protection, said County Attorney James Backstrom. He is living with a foster family but soon will be placed permanently with a relative.
"For a parent to abandon a child under these circumstances - it is both unusual and disturbing," Backstrom said.
Cross' last known whereabouts were in California, but officials have been unable to locate him.
On Thursday, his two-story home was vacant. Foreclosure signs on the front door said the house is under new ownership and told where to go to collect any items left behind. A bank bought the home Jan. 25 for $336,925, according to county records.
The incident has left the neighborhood stunned.
"Heartbreaking," said Traci Radtke, a neighbor. "It's a sad story."
Radtke, 47, lives next to John and Joanne Pahl, whose home Sebastian went to after his father left. Radtke said the boy stayed with the Pahls for about a month.
Joanne Pahl told Radtke she was about to leave for swimming lessons with her younger child when Sebastian came to her house with the letters.
"He started to cry," Radtke said.
Pahl took Sebastian into her house and called the boy's father but couldn't reach him. Pahl reportedly then called the police. She told officers the boy lived about three blocks away and rode his bike over with the letters, one unopened.
Messages left for the Pahl family were not returned Thursday.
Pahl told police that Cross didn't ask her family to take in his son. He also didn't mention plans to leave town, the complaint said.
Sebastian told police he last saw his father the night before he left. The boy didn't notice anything wrong, the charge said. Sebastian told a social worker he knew little about his family, and his father had told him his mother was dead.
But in the letter to Sebastian, his father said his mother was actually alive.
A petition for child protection names Katik Porter, who also uses the last name Splitstoesser, as Sebastian's mother. Her whereabouts are unknown.
According to Ramsey County Child Protection, her parental rights for three older children she had with another man were voluntarily terminated in 1999 or 2000, the petition stated. Sebastian said he last saw his mother when he was 2.
Attempts to reach Porter were unsuccessful.
Cross, a licensed architect, was awarded legal custody of Sebastian in 2001, the complaint said. The mother received visitation privileges, which she never used; her privileges were suspended in 2002.
Police tracked Cross' credit cards and bank accounts after he went missing but found no activity, the charge said. Authorities also analyzed his home computer, which found a possible reservation dated Aug. 1 for a three-night stay in the oceanside southern California city of Morro Bay.
A week after his disappearance, Joanne Pahl received a call from a woman who said she was an ex-girlfriend of Cross', the complaint said. Cross sent her an email from a library in Carmel, Calif., saying he left his son behind and was depressed and sleeping in the streets, the complaint said.
California police tried to locate Cross.
In the email Cross said, "'I probably only have a couple of days...No one I called would help me...I didn't know what to do. I am scared and hopelessly depressed.'"
Authorities have heard of no further contact from Cross.
"Where he is now I don't know," Backstrom said.
Homeowners dealing with a foreclosure are under stress, said Sara Swenson, assistant director of administration for the Dakota County Community Development Agency. The agency offers people free mortgage foreclosure counseling but also makes additional referrals if people need emotional support.
This year, there have been 1,067 foreclosure sales in Dakota County, Swenson said. Of that number, 149 were in Lakeville.
Besides traffic tickets and minor violations, Cross has no criminal record, Backstrom said. The recent charge against him carries up to a year in jail.
Maricella Miranda can be reached at 651-228-5421.
THE LETTER
From a letter Steven Cross, 60, of Lakeville left his 11-year-old son July 18:
"To my son Sebastian:
"If this paper is wet, it's because I am crying so bad. You know your dad loves you more than anything. This economy got (illegible) there are no jobs for architects so I have to go because the sheriff...will take the house July 27. There will be no more me....Some good news is your mother is still alive. Though I do not think it is for the best. Give these letters to (J.P.). Do not open them. I hope they get to give you a chance. There are many, many great years ahead for you. Not so for me."
Source: Dakota County criminal complaint filed Aug. 12